Heart of All Worlds
by Phayte
Summary: author formerly Celestyl Sequel to Between White and Black finally!Something's afoot and it's up to Sora's team to figure it out
1. Continuing On

_**Disclaimer---Gah, these things are SO boring. -sigh- I don't own any of this, if u wanna sue, I have a nice collection of TY beanie babies...that's about all u'll have. But if u take them, I'll cry, I swear it! ;.;**_

* * *

**The Heart of All Worlds**

_Prologue: Continuing On_

* * *

As soon as the princess entered the room, Sora knew there would be news he would not like. Aurora, Princess of Light for the world she was born to, was the very embodiment of what royalty should be, she bore a simple tiara of gold upon her head, a silken dress of sky blue complimenting her mature figure and sun-kissed golden hair flowing to her lower back. Her back was straight and her posture exceptional as she glided to the throne before curtsying before him. Sora could not help but feel inferior to the woman before him. True, she was kind-hearted and pure, and he indeed held a status higher than her, but she intimidated, whether she intended to or not. This time, rather than a pleasant smile, her face wore a pasted on pleasant twitch of her lips as she entered the room, looking at nothing but the teenager sitting in the only item of furniture in the chamber.

There was a procession behind her filled with finely garbed nobles from both her world and this one. Thier eyes were respectfully turned away from the princess, facing ahead, converging at once, upon Sora when they came to a halt behind Aurora. In a practiced move, they knelt, brushing skirts and cloaks across the floor elegantly. Sora, for his part, could not hold back a wince and small shudder, they looked like zombies when they were all together like this. He decided it was better to see them one at a time. It may have been proper for a princess of any sort to appear with a procession of people following her, but Sora could hardly call himself proper, or used to this kind of life.

Aurora gave a graceful curtsy, allowing the long golden hair to obscure her vision for a moment before standing and pushing it behind one ear. No words were spoken and Sora had to admit to himself that he was getting slightly nervous, words were more than exchanged by this point usually, and the princess in question was on her way back to her world to resume her position. Sora still was not entirely sure of what they did; each time he asked Kairi, she said it simply was not his business and that she was not sure what he did so it was even. Sora had thought it was quite obvious, but apparently not . . .

Aurora suddenly swung her head to the side and waved her hand in a gentle arc toward the door, "What will be said here if not for your ears to hear." She stated brusquely Leave us now."

Uneasy expressions passed between the nobles as they rose. Troubled and confused expressions jumped from each other, to Aurora, Sora, then back. Murmurs gave voice to inner concerns as their intricate lines broke and they ambled to the door, as they opened, surprised shouts of "Your Majesty!" and deep curtsies came in the wake of Kairi. She tried to offer them back, but there were simply too many. eventually, she bustled through the door, staring with troubled eyes after them. The doors closed behind them as Yuffies final wave drew close to an end. The four were alone in the room.

Aurora shot a glance to Riku, opened her mouth to request his departure, but Sora stood before so much as a peep could pass her lips. "It's unlike you to dismiss them so adamantly," inside he smirked, yes, he sounded smart, and he liked the feeling, "whatever needs to be said, should be heard by all of us."

Reluctantly, Aurora dropped her gaze to the floor and sighed, quite unlike her previous posture, and VERY much unlike her typical cheery and gentle attitude. In her view, which was often expressed when Sora asked why everyone had to know, the people deserved to know what was happening around them, it instilled trust within them and opened up the opportunity for help if someone had the ability to do so. "Princess Aurora, please tell me. What's wro-" Sora stumbled forward a bit, surprising himself and scaring the others in the room. Aurora and Kairi raced to the throne, arms outstretched, ready to steady the flailing Keybearer, but found their arms conspicuously empty. Looking up, they saw Riku's arm securely around Sora's waist, holding him up from executing a rather nasty face plant on the marble tiling below him.

"You are such a klutz sometimes!" she exclaimed. The amusement was almost completely drowned by concern as he pulled the younger boy against him. He did not remove his arm.

Sora's arm fell limp and the Keyblade clinked on the floor as he relaxed in Riku's embrace, "Sorry, I guess I moved wrong and it," he brushed his hand gently across his shirt as he winced slightly as fabric brushed across still-very-tender skin, "hurt." He offered a goofy smile as an apology and assurance that he was just fine.

"Geez Sora, don't do that to us!" Kairi closed her eyes, shaking her head and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yes, well . . . I'm entirely surprised such things as this are happening." Aurora herself seemed slightly annoyed at the almost ridiculous display. She tapped her foot rather animatedly at least.

"What do you mean such things like this? It was just me being stupid. I'm hurt and I guess I shouldn't be doing this. That's what people keep telling me anyway-" Riku had not let go of Sora, so he was forced to lean forward over the arm around his stomach.

"Well, I would have requested an audience with you in your sickbed if it had come to it. When you started just now, I felt something within me, as I'm sure Kairi did as well." Kairi nodded, the sudden serious atmosphere descending upon her and disolving the annoyance of just a few moments ago.

"And what was it?" It was true, the pain that sunk in just moments before had been more within his heart. It had been what started him, swinging his body to a position that pulled the healing wounds on his body rather uncomfortably. It had been happening for some time now and Sora had just learned to push it to the side, assuming that perhaps it was a side effect of the Keyblade, no sense getting everyone in an uproar because of a feeling. Thought somewhere inside him, he knew it was much more, that this strange feeling was not supposed to be there at all.

"Darkness . . . "

Sora nearly jumped out of his skin, he had almost forgotten Riku was there. The older boy had been so quite and his touch so familiar that it had slipped Sora's mind. That was it, no taking anything else for granted, he hated being startled and had been told many times so far that it could very well endanger him if he failed to get a clue.

"Yes," Aurora cast a troubled glance Riku's that was returned with a cool glance, just challenging her to say anything. She did not. Instead, she sighed and continued on, deciding how to put her thoughts into words, "It is a highly unusual fluctuation in the darkness-" A vein in Aurora's forehead pulsated as she tried to control herself, Sora's expression was dumbfounded, he had a mote idea what she was talking about. Normally she was a very calm, understanding, and kind person, but this was IMPORTANT!

Kairi placed a gentle hand on Aurora's arm and looked up at Sora with that cold glare only a female could manage. Having no idea what he did, he just gulped loudly and returned her glare with a meek apologetic one which seemed to say, "Bear-with-my-stupidity-and-feel-bad-because-you-know-you-love-me."

Kairi sighed once again and started to simplify, "There's an imbalance between light and darkness and we're not quite sure why. There's been a small increase in darkness in this world" Kairi shot a worried glance at Aurora, "I've spoken with everyone, but I haven't been able to get ahold of Alice. Do you think something happened to her, all of this started just as she vanished."

"I'm afraid this may be the cause of Alice's disappearance. It's all linked somehow." The troubled air returned tenfold as the Princesses spoke of the "important" incident, forgetting Sora and Riku were even in the room.

"Sora, you wanna go rest?" Riku grinned at the younger boy who was practically falling asleep as was.

"Yeah, Kairi'll tell me everything that's going on whenever they're done talking about it." The two men left the women to exchange information and worries, Riku practically carrying Sora to his rooms.

-

The figure clad in darkness stared into the small puddle of light, the only light within the chamber, and smiled, although perhaps it would be best described as a sneer of sorts. Either way, it was a frightening sight to look upon, especially when illuminated by the eerie light from the puddle. The figure appeared female, but in this darkness, it may have been hard to tell.

A figure materialized behind her, oozing a strange greenish aura, flowing off of him like water. "Are you quite ready yet?" It stayed a respectable distance from the one looking into the puddle, but still poised the question rather arrogantly.

Irritation deepened the frown that was forming on the strange woman's features, "You are in no position to question me. You will obey me now and be patient as the rest of them are!"

The figure behind her snorted in disgust before turning as he left the dark chamber and the decidedly insane woman.

"We will draw him out slowly, draining worlds as we go. It is doubtful he will find any of the keyholes."

"You underestimate him so easily, don't be a fool." The figure was next to her before she had actually registered he had moved. She would have shot back a nasty retort, but he was speaking again, and what he had to say actually sounded sensible. "Why not draw out his little paramour(1)? Destroy his heart and he will fall into our hands." The picture in the puddle focused on a silver-haired teen dressed in black clothing, carrying a now-very-much-asleep brown haired youth. There was a very protective air about him.

"Yes," the woman gently placed on very long nailed finger on the surface of the puddle, caressing the silver-haired youth. "Without his heart, the Bearer will be nothing." Laughter echoed through the room, and the shadows shifted, almost as if trying to escape the mad woman.

* * *

**A/N: HEY I'M BACK! Look it's the sequel you've (well a few of you) have been waiting for! I'm so happy for it! It's turning out a HECK of a lot better than I expected it to! I'm soooo sorry for the delay, but writer's block has been a disease for me lately, I've barely been able to crank out ANYTHING! ;.; **

**I've got a new name too, I figured it was time for something new...maybe it'll help, maybe not. Either way, I'm here again! A note for this story, if you're even reading these author's notes: this story probably won't get posted out as fast as the other one did...I really don't know what direction this will take and I'm not entirely clear on what direction I want it to go in so it'll take some thinking.**

**I CAN'T BELIEVE NO ONE FLAMED ME FOR THE ENDING OF THE FIRST ONE! I went back and read it and realized I had left a HUGE cliffhanger unresolved! I'm so sorry, that's totally not like me, I have no idea where my brain was. I plan on resolving it in here though, that I promise!**

**This fic will swing more in the direction of the original Kingdom Hearts game, though there will be MAJOR differences. IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME THING I totally promise! Note, I haven't played Chain of Memories and I don't know how KH Two goes, so if u have played it and / or know anything about them, and something seems wrong in this fic, keep in mind it IS an AU, and please bear with me kk?**

**Ok, I think I've said all I needed to say. I'M SO HAPPY I'M BACK AGAIN! Go me! Lol anyway, I'm gonna let ya go and start on work for the next chapter!**

**(1) Ok, so paramour actually refers to a lover in the sense that it's adultery...what I'm aiming for here is just mocking them. The "strange figure" is demeaning them juu see?**

**I don't mean to make Sora out to be an idiot...and I'm sorry if that's the impression you get. He has his moments! He's not stupid! It's just for comedy purposes and in the game, he doesn't really come across as a genius, not stupid, just average...I guess. I love Sora, I want a Sora doll that I can hug!**

**-Hugglz her beta reader almightyponcho- Wuverz u hunnie!**

**TTFN!**

**OH P.S. - **One more thing I failed to mention in the _Between Black and White_ is that the epilogue, and this story, happen a few months AFTER the events of BBaW


	2. Believing Recollections

_**Disclaimer---Gah, these things are SO boring. -sigh- I don't own any of this, if u wanna sue, I have a nice collection of TY beanie babies...that's about all u'll have. But if u take them, I'll cry, I swear it! ;.;**_

* * *

**The Heart of All Worlds**

_Chapter 1 - Believing Recollections_

* * *

Sora slept soundly on the large plush bed, curled around pastel blue blankets and the one pillow he absolutely refused to be rid of. He was not very fond of the down-feather pillows that had to be fluffed every so often, else they would go completely flat. Extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable things they were. Riku had taken the time to point out that his "special" pillow was looking rather less these days, but Sora just scowled, slammed his head on said pillow for effect, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Kairi strode silently into the room, placing a palm flat on the door and closed it with over-exaggerated care, trying to muffle the _click_ of the door interlocking with the frame. Turning around quickly, her skirts brushing the floor soundlessly and her slippered feet making silent shuffling noises as they brushed the ground, she approached the bed and sat beside Sora's sleeping form, gently brushing bangs from his face. "'Bout time he got some good rest," she whispered to the other occupant of the room without looking up, "Aurora's staying the night. She's willing to talk to him tomorrow. Riku-" Kairi looked up at him with a slightly panicked expression her face that caught him completely off guard. Her voice was desperate, "something's gone wrong and they want Sora to-to fix it. He'd have to leave, and fight probably an-and he's in no condition!"

"mmMM!" Sora shoved his face deeper into the pillow and stretched his body slightly.

Riku regarded him fondly before a troubled expression passed over his face. "It's his job . . ." Kairi opened her mouth to protest, lifting herself from the bed ready to use body language , and physical force if it got her point across. Riku's disarming smile stopped her and she sat when he spoke again, "We've just gotta believe in him."

The princess crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head dejectedly, "You make it sound as if I don't. He's injured, emotionally and physically."

"He'll be fine, Aurora can heal his wounds. She's a lot better with magic than you ya know." Riku grinned and Kairi flew up, socking him, harder than he expected her able to, on the arm. "And just what's THAT supposed to mean."

Riku was ready with a curt remark, but was stopped suddenly when Sora sat up, glaring at them with unfocused eyes. The sable-haired boy opened his mouth, and promptly fell back onto the mattress snoring loudly. Kairi hid a snicker behind her hand.

Riku did not even try to hide his amusement, "We should probably continue this fight outside." And with that, they exited the Keybearer's room.

Closing the door, Riku leaned against it and regarded Kairi with a cool expression.

"I'm just worried Riku. Everything's changed so fast, we've had to time to prepare for any of it. This is just happening too fast.

"They wouldn't stick us with something we couldn't handle. We've all proven we're more than resilient Kairi. 'Sides, it's not like he'll be going alone." Riku coked an eyebrow at his friend's amazed expression. "You actually thought-"

"NO! No no, heh." Kairi tried to laugh off her embarassment, but failed as the tell-tale tinge of her cheeks gave it away, "I just . . . hadn't thought about it that far yet."

"We'll see what Sora says tomorrow." Kairi nodded stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. She noticed the fond look Riku sent to the door, knowing it was meant for the person behind it, secured in the huge bed. She was far from stupid on the subject, and thought it rather adorable. There were doubts once, fears that she would be left behind, resentments because she had had her crushes, but it was all left behind when she was sure everything would be fine between them all. That her two best friends were made for eachother.

"You better get in there and be sure he's not sleepwalking again." There was a warm sisterly tone to her voice.

Riku glanced at her, his expression softening immensely. This was one thing he loved about Kairi, she always understood, always knew what to say, always knew when a person was distressed with a situation and her words would push them in the right direction, even if it was further away from her. "Yeah, I better go. We'll see you tomorrow morning ok?" Kairi blushed as he pulled her into a warm embrace. She smiled and returned it before skittering off down the hall, shouting the appropriate time to be up and not to forget about Aurora. Riku waved and slipped back into the bedroom.

Standing beside the bed, Riku wanted Sora's lips move silently, muttering something from his dreams. It sent a small jolt of fear down his spine. Everytime Sora slept he got that feeling. Traid had approached Sora in his dreams, controlling his mind, making him see things that were not there, not true. Riku, like Kairi, did not want Sora to go, especially not if his mind were prone to such things, but Riku had to believe, so reluctantly, he did.

The silver-haired teen crawled into bed behind the sleeping Sora and buried his head in the crook of the younger one's neck. Riku was close to sleep himself, he yawned noisily and rubbed teary eyes.

Believe.

It seemed like such an easy thing to do. But convincing yourself of something and actually believing it were two very different things. Especially when that believe was challenged.

Riku had discovered that the hard way.

_They, whoever 'they' were, had tried to make him forget. Take his memories away and give him false ones. Ones where Sora never existed. And the saddest part was, he had almost believed them._

_/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-_

_His hope ran thin, throwing himself to his knees, he dropped his head into his hands and cried, completely unable to hold anything back now. Anger, frustration, worry, hurt, and loss, among more emotions than he could put labels to. One hand dropped to the ground and clutched the warm sand, picking it up, he chucked it into the ocean._

_For hours, he came to realize, after he had cried himself out, Riku sat there, simply watching the ocean and sky emotionlessly. They skittered across the surface of his mind, but somehow he could not find the energy to acknowledge them anymore. Suddenly, something fell next to him, a bright yellow fruit in the shape of a star, with a small leaf protruding from what was declared the top of it. Riku grasped the Paopu fruit, looking at its unmarred surface. It was not even ripe enough to fall from the tree, the ideal time to eat, but odd that it had fallen so soon._

_Anger and loss filled him again, apparently he was still capable of emotion, and he stood, fresh tears springing from his eyes. "HERE!" He yelled at the top of his lungs and chucking the fruit at the horizon, "share this with me! Be with me forever!" Riku fell to his knees, more than crying, sobbing actually, "Forever," he whispered before falling to his side. He felt like a baby with all this crying, but Sora meant more than the world to him, he curled up into a ball, not attempting to stop crying anymore, "You said believe, but, I have nothing to believe in. You're not here." His eyes drooped and he fell asleep with one last thought lingering._

_I love you._

What happened after that was fuzzy, like a dream, except he was absolutely certain he was awake.

_Riku's form lay in a prone position, tears still running the worn track down his face, over his chin, and finally, dripping onto the cool evening sand. His expression was neutral, not even appearing as if he were asleep only that he had closed his eyes for a moment._

_But Riku dreamt. In his dreams, he reached out through a pool of darkness to reach for a small pin prick of light, certain that it was too far away to even hope to touch. In this place, there really were no solid forms, just the realization that you existed. Closing what would have been his hand into a fist, he pulled it back_. _Looking back up, the light was gone. This startled Riku, and he opened his hand only to find the small peck of light twinkling in his hand. If it were human, Riku would have said it was happy._

_Could that light really be this small? Any smaller and it would not be there . . ._

_And just like that, the prick of light_ _shot up, circled around Riku twice, and flew in the direction assumed to be up. Riku stumbled forward a few steps calling out "H-hey wait!" He needed that little light._

_Everything slowly faded into black._

_/-/-/-/-/-/-/-_

"_Riku, hey! Wake up! We've gotta go!"_

_The Riku in question groaned and rolled over, unsuccessfully wiping away the itchy wetness on his face from the sand and his tears. Cracking his eyes open, they immediately settled on the startlingly blue ones of Sora that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Everything was out of focus and it took a moment to remember where he was. When it did come back, Riku scrambled up clumsily, stuttering and grabbing Sora's face, arms, shoulders, anything, just to be sure he was actually in front of him. In his frantic scrambling, he missed the tiny pinprick of light in Sora's eye._

_Sora giggled and Riku stopped, content with rubbing his eyes and staring at the boy before him that went about as if nothing in the past few days had happened. "We gotta go! Everyone's waiting for us!"_

"_S-Sora! It's really you?" It was taking Riku's mind a little longer than usual to process information._

"_Yeah Riku. It's me." The Keybearer took his companion's hand and held it in his own. His soft smile lasted for a bit, until it cracked into another goofy grin. "They couldn't keep me down, had to teach'em a lesson!"_

"_But what was this?" Riku gestured to the false island and the lands beyond it and suddenly, Sora looked extremely ashamed, and mad._

"_I'm sorry, I really am. It wasn't my idea. They were afraid, so they put you through one of your worst fears, wanting to know if you'd overcome it. But, you did, and now they've been put in their places! Heh, weren't very happy when I started yelling . . ." Sora trailed off and Riku just stared._

_What exactly had happened, and who were THEY?_

"_Riku!" Sora jarred him from his musings, "we've gotta go or Cid'll leave us here!"_

"_Cid...who?" The silver haired teen was being tugged across the bridge and across the sands before he knew it._

"_He's our pilot! He's taking us outta here and the new place we can call home. It's SO amazing! Got a castle and everything! It's like all those places we used to dream about, except we don't have to dream anymore!"_

_Before Riku knew it, he was aboard a strange ship, made of something his mind did not even want to identify quite yet. The rustic blonde in the cockpit talking to Sora right now had swore at the two for a while, going on about taking too long and how people Riku did not even know would be angry at HIM for the delay. The blonde, known as Cid, flicked his cigarette out of the craft, and shouted for them to brace for impact, and they were off. _

_Off to a new world._

A few more weeks, Riku mused, and they were here, in this world, playing more important roles than they had ever played in their fantasies. It was overwhelming in the beginning, having countless worlds' destiny weighing upon their shoulders. But they soon found that they were not without help. Aerith was here for her son and Cloud had taught Riku the fine art of swordplay, was still teaching him actually, but duty called at the moment and the two were gone.

It had been bad enough that Sora's parents had already known about this, but that they had expected each of the teenagers to accept with without so much as a dropped jaw was a little too much. So, when the three, Riku, Sora, and Kairi, found time for themselves, the discussions were often steered toward the fact that they could not believe what had happened.

Life was certainly the adventure they had been looking for for so many years.

Riku smirked, to himself just before falling asleep.

And it was about to get even more adventurous.

* * *

**A/N: AHA! I actually finished this before the inhuman hours of the morning set in! It's ten thirty (two to be exact) Go me! Heh, sorry, had to say that.**

**So, the main purpose of this chapter you ask? To tie up a VERY loose end I left in the last story. I'm sorry this may have seemed so painfully boring ;.; I promise it will pick up next chapter! This was not a very good chapter one...I think the next one should be chapter one...maybe this should be prologue two or something. Hmm...**

**All of the italics are the flashback...just in case you were wondering...probably not but I'll just put that here to take up space.**

**Oh, all those who adore feather pillows, I'm sorry, I mean you no offense...I don't really like them, but that's just me. I write a lot of this on comical life experiences, because yes, I can be odd like that.**

**OH yes, one more thing, my beta reader is not with me right now, and I just did not want to wait, so I'm posting this now, and I'm sorry for all the mistakes that could be in there. Don't yell ;.; I have low self esteem right now and all my other chappies should be beta'ed. -.- I'm a terrible proofreader.**

**Hearts to all my readers and double to those who review! Who knows, I may off chocolate (or something else to suit your tastebuds)**

**TTFN**


End file.
